UNC Mega-Donor Walter Hussman Denies Exerting Pressure Over Hannah-Jones Hiring
As the deadline approaches for UNC-Chapel Hill to avoid a federal discrimination lawsuit over its handling of acclaimed journalist Nikole Hannah-Jonesâs tenure application, new details continue to emerge about the behind-the-scenes lobbying that led the university to a crisis point.
In a Wednesday interview with Policy Watch, UNC-Chapel Hill mega-donor Walter Hussman, Jr. detailed his opposition to the hiring of Hannah-Jones, first reported by digital magazineÂ
âHereâs actually the true facts of it,â Hussman told Policy Watch. âI never pressured anybody. I didnât pressure [UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Dean] Susan King. I didnât pressure the chancellor. I didnât pressure [Vice Chancellor for University Development] David Routh or anybody on the board.â
Publisher Hussman contradicted by J-school dean on his opposition to hiring of 1619 Project creator
The Assembly, a new digital magazine in North Carolina, has more today on
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman’s opposition to the
University of North Carolina journalism school hiring Nikole Hannah-Jones as a distinguished professor.
Short version: He appears to have dug his hole deeper.
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Hannah-Jones won the Pulitzer Prize as creator of the
1619 Project on four centuries of slavery in the U.S. It was presented as commentary and it has spawned a furious counter-attack from conservatives because, well, it makes white people look bad. Political opposition to her, several have reported, led to the UNC Board of Trustees not granting her tenure, as customarily done for distinguished professors.
Jun. 2 The UNC-Chapel Hill journalism school's top donor and namesake says his "concerns haven't gone away" about the hiring of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. But Walter Hussman Jr. said those concerns won't affect his $25 million pledge to the school. Hussman said he stands by emails he sent to top university officials last year expressing his qualms with Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize .
Walter E. Hussman Jr., whose name is on the university’s journalism school, wrote emails to a dean criticizing the appointment of the New York Times Pulitzer winner.